Inbox Preview, API Improvements, and More in Our Latest Release

Our first release of 2016 includes all sorts of great stuff. Let’s take a look.

Goodbye, Inbox Inspector. Hello, Inbox Preview.

If you’ve been with MailChimp for a while, you’re probably familiar with Inbox Inspector. First introduced all the way back in 2007, it’s helped a lot of people build campaigns that look great in dozens of email clients. The email ecosystem has improved a lot over the years, but one harsh truth remains: different email clients still render HTML in different ways, so having a tool that allows you to see what your email will look across a bunch of clients at once can really save the day.

This week, we’re excited to unveil an new solution: Inbox Preview. It’sbetter, faster, and stronger than its predecessor, and, since you don’t have to leave the campaign builder to use it, it fits seamlessly into your workflow.

You can access Inbox Preview from the Preview and Test menu as you’re creating your campaign or building your template. Just select Enter preview mode, click the Inbox tab, and follow the prompts. Inbox Preview, like Inbox Inspector before it, is powered by Litmus, so you’ll be able to test your campaign across more than 40 different web, mobile, and desktop email clients. We’ll even let you know which email clients are the most popular among your subscribers, so you can adapt your design accordingly. Plus, if you do need to make any changes along the way, each preview can be instantly refreshed to see how they impact the appearance of the campaign.

Inbox Preview uses a token system. Each time you create or update a preview, you spend a token. All users can purchase bundles of 25 tokens for $3 apiece, and different account plans get different amounts of tokens during each billing cycle. Here’s the rundown:

MailChimp Pro users get 1,000 free tokens each month on their renewal date. Unused tokens expire at the end of the billing period when they’re replaced with fresh ones.

Monthly paid accounts get 25 free tokens each month on their renewal date. Unused tokens expire at the end of the billing period when they’re replaced with fresh ones.

Forever Free and Pay As You Go accounts will receive 10 free trial tokens to get started. These tokens expire in one month.

Purchased tokens never expire.

The introduction of Inbox Preview means we’re retiring Inbox Inspector. Starting with this release, you’ll no longer be able to run new Inbox Inspections. Existing Inspections will remain accessible within the app, though. If you have any unused Inbox Inspection credits, they’ll be automatically converted—you’ll receive 25 tokens for each credit.

API 3.0 improvements

When we launched API 3.0 last year, we knew we still had a way to go in order to achieve full parity with API 2.0. We’ve finished tying up the loose ends, and you can perform a number of additional list and campaign-related actions:

Create and edit static segments

Create and edit templates

Schedule campaigns

Pause and resume RSS campaigns

Send test emails

View members of a segment

We’re also introducing a number of new e-commerce API endpoints that will open the door for powerful new integrations in the future. Our API documentation includes more information on all of the above.

Odds and ends

That’s all the big stuff, but this release also includes some bug squashes, minor interface tweaks, behind-the-scenes improvements, and a few other updates:

Signup form improvements, including: a new Horizontal version of the Super Slim embeddable form, the ability to customize the "email address" field in the Subscriber popup form, and the option to translate the placeholder text of signup forms fields.

Pay As You Go account holders can now elect to be notified via email when their account’s credit total reaches a certain threshold. You’ll also have the option to automatically reload your credits when they start running a little low.

Tagged

Hi Fitz, the spam filter check is not a part of Inbox Preview at this time. That being said, we’re always looking for ways we can improve the app; if you have any feedback, please don’t hesitate to pass it along.

Hey there Roman, I’m happy to help clarify! Prior to this week’s release, if you enabled Google Analytics without choosing a title in the Setup step, the campaign would appear in GA as “MailChimp Campaign ID-Campaign Title.” Now, that same campaign would appear as “MailChimp Campaign ID-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_MM_DD_YYYY.” This article should also help clarify, but if you have any additional questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our support team; they’ll be happy to assist as well.

Hi Kris — the checkbox was removed from the Setup step, but MailChimp’s authentication is still enabled by default for your campaigns. If you’d prefer to set up Custom DKIM for campaigns, this article will explain the process.

Hi Steven, have you explored the Link Checker feature in Preview Mode? It can help expedite the link-checking process by making it easy to find out which links are valid and providing a screenshot of the resulting website without manually clicking through to each link in your campaign.

That being said, if you have a moment, don’t hesitate to contact our support team directly. They’ll be able to collect additional information and point you in the direction of any available workarounds.

Great question, Andres! You can purchase additional tokens directly through the Inbox Preview interface in your campaign’s Preview Mode. When you’re on the Inbox Preview screen (Design step of the campaign builder > Preview & Test menu > Enter Preview Mode > Inbox tab), you’ll see the number of remaining tokens listed near the right side of the page. Once you click that number, the purchasing options will open up so you can quickly reload your account and get back to work.